The Walking Mentorship, Day 1 Speed, Time, and Curiosity

The Walking Mentorship, Day 1 Speed, Time, and Curiosity Joo Perre Viana is the mastermind behind theWalking Mentorshipprogram, an innovative one-week experience that helps people face their personal andprofessionalchallenges while taking a120-kilometer (74.5-mile) hike alongthe Camino de Santiago.The purpose of this methodology is to help gain perspective on what is important (both personally and professionally), update our reality maps, and create an action plan for the future, Viana says.On Sunday, August 28, Viana embarked on his latest hike.Over the course of this week, he will be updating us daily about the journey he and his participants are on. Read the first post in the series here.- Ed. Note.Im not a specialist in physics or spatial science, but Ive always enjoyed the opportunity to think about and reflect on the relation between time and speed, a notion (at least for me) in permanent mutation.The Walking Mentorship group meet today for the first time our gathering point welches at the Santiago de Compostela train station.From there, we took the fast connection to Ourense, which is thestarting point of our journey tomorrow.From the initial oddity of getting acquainted withone another none of us knew each other until this precise moment we swiftly moved toward our official kickoff and the first exercise of the program, which was to becompleted in pairs during our train trip.Our theme for the first day wasslowing down and focusing on the present moment. For that reason, we spent this daylearning about one another and sharing different layers ofourselves. The main objective of our first day was to give each one of us the opportunity to adjust to a new dynamic and the different intensities with which we live each new hour.Our first metaphor of the day was related tospeed and time. Think about thisThe trip from Santiago to Ourense takes approximately 35 minutes by train. Once we start our hike,it will take us six days to cover thesame distance walking back to the starting point. It is exactly the same route and pretty much the samenumberof kilometers, but the experience is totally different.Besides the obvious reason the speed of the train why do you think the experience is so different?Can you relate this thought experiment toyour life? What can you learn from it? Is there a way to slow down time? How long does one minute take if its charged with love, curiosity, and an openness to discovery and learning?Now, how long doesone minute take when it is full of routine and boredom, spent inside a mind shut off to novelty?When the day came to an end, while we were seated near the Ourense Cathedral, I started thinking to myself while I looked at the faces of my fellow wanderers.One day lived to the fullest potential is worth mora than 100 days empty of life. Maybe the secret to living longer, more fulfillingminutes is related toour capacity to continually open ourselves to whatever life places in front of us and learn from it the best we can.It is time to sleep, but first I will savor every moment shared with my walking friends the old town stroll, the visit to the magnificent ninth-century cathedral, the dip into the Burga de Abajo thermal spring, the incredible dinner, and above all, the notion that time can expand and become Time.Tomorrow, we walk.Ultreia et Suseia,JoaoPhotos from Day 1Joo Perre Viana foundedtheWalking Mentorshipprogram.